Air diffusers



May 30, 1967I c. N. o'DAY ET AL AIR DIFFUSERS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 29, 1963 INVENTORS. venido lv. www* gaeaA-.z swg-wer u) `D`v o o o\ \o United States jPatent ilce 3,322,056 Patented May 30, 1967 3,322,056 AIR DIFFUSERS Cortland N. ODay, deceased, late of Port Washington, N.Y., by Ruth L. ODay, executrix, Port Washington, N.Y., and George J. Sweeney, Plandome, N.Y., assignors to Air Devices, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 305,550 The portion of the term of the patent subsequent to Dec. 11, 1979, has been disclaimed S Claims. (Cl. 98-40) The present vapplication is a continuation-in-part of 4application Ser. No. 747,204 filed July 8, 1958, in the names of Cortland N. ODay and George I. Sweeney, which matures as Patent No. 3,067,699 on Dec. l1, 1962, through intervening applications, Ser. No. 170,547, tiled Feb. 2, 1962, now Patent No. 3,176,603, dated Apr. 6, 1965; application Ser. No. 61,142, filed Oct. 7, 1960, now Patent No. 3,064,550, dated Nov. 20, 1962; application Ser. No. 747,204, filed July 8, 1958, now Patent No. 3,067,669, dated Dec. 1l, 1962; application Ser. No. 747,203, tiled July. 8, 1958, now Patent No. 2,959,116, dated Nov. 8, 1960; application Ser. No. 859,722, filed Dec. 15, 1959, now Patent No. 3,101,690, dated Aug. 27, 1963; application Ser. No. 170,575, filed Feb. 22, 1962, now Patent No. 3,238,860, dated Mar. 8, 1966 and applications not yet issued as patents, Ser. No. 67,425, filed Nov. 4, 1960, now abandoned and 170,576, filed Feb. 2, 1962, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to an air diffuser and it particularly relates to a method of making and assembling air ditfusers.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a novel elongated air diffuser .and assembly thereof, and particularly the vane elements thereof, so that they may be readily mounted into a diffuser with a minimum of labor and at low cost, with a superior construction.

Another object is to provide a novel elongated lair diffuser -construction in which the vane -units will be unitarily assembled by a substantially continuous operation and then may be associated with one another to form the nal diffuser construction.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by Way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art Without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects, the oblique internal vanes of the diffuser are first diecut and then turned upwardly from a stn'p of metal and then the edges of the strip are folded inwardly to close the back of the strip of metal and form a plate-like construction with upturned oblique vanes, a plurality of which may be assembled together to form a final diffuser construction.

These elements, afterA they have been cut in lengths, then are provided with bolt openings andl they may be conveniently assembled together with the vanes themselves acting as spacers and defining the width of the transverse passageways and serving to correct and space the channels or paths through which the air must pass while being subjected to the short oblique internal deectors.

In the preferred form of the invention there is pro-V vided an even number or equal number of solid passageways on each side of a central element in which the air will be oppositely directed on opposite sides of the central partition and with said partition having a transverse baille or element at the end thereof, substantially extending across the two innermost slots or elongated passageways.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts .as hereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views;

FIG. 1 is an elongated front plan view of a vane construction, showing the manner in which it is formed.

FIG. 2 is a reverse plan view, showing the back yof the element of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is la side elevational view in perspective showing the elements of FIGS. l and 2 from the bottom side.

FIG. 4 is a reverse perspective view, showing the elements of FIGS. 1 to 3 in perspective from the up-turned vane side.

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of the vane construction of FIGS. 1 to 4 when it is finally assembled and cut to lengths.

FIG. 6 is a top perspective View of the opposite arrangement of vanes, as compared to FIG. 5 in which the Vanes are oppositely inclined.

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of the finally assembled diffuser construction.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary front elevational view.

FIG. 9 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the line 9 9 of FIG. 8.

Referring to the assembled units of FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, these of courese may be of any length and may be closed off at their ends so as to form a complete diffuser construction, or they may be extended from wall to wall, there being shown continuous lsections thereof and the manner in which they are assembled.

End plates may be placed upon the units of FIGS. 7 to 9, or they may be continued with connecting anges or plates to form as long a unit as desired.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, there is shown a strip of metal A which may be of stainless steel, sheet aluminum or ordinary steel, which is suitably painted or finished to prevent rust or discoloration.

,The strip A is iirst formed with the cent-ral belt openings 10 and the half bolt openings 11, which will coincide with the openings 10 when the strip has lbeen folded in final position as indicated in FIGS. 5 and 6.

After the holes 10 and 11 have been punched in position, the side portions 13 are folded at an angle of 90 as indicated at 12, so that these side .flanges Iwill project at right angles from the central strip portion indicated at 14 (see FIGS. 1 to 4).

At this stage there are a series of oblique die-cuts made as indicated at 15, with the die-cut portions 16 being turned upwardly at right angles from the 'base portions 14.

Finally the flanges 14 are then folded inwardly, as indicated at 17, so that they will finally come together as indicated at 18 and cover the openings 15 from which the vanes 16 have been struck upwardly.

In FIGS. 5 and 6 are shown the tinal units B and C, having the vanes in opposite directions, with the overlapping completed openings 10 for the assembled bolts and with all of the die-cut openings 15 being covered by the underfolded side edges of the strip and with the opposite vanes 16 extending at right angles upwardly from the final folded strip, having the vane portion 14 and the underfolded side edges 18.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, these strips are shown of predetermined length so that they may be assembled into a final diffuser, and, if desired, these lengths may be continued by overlapping plates so as to extend from wall to Wall or for the full length of the diffuser construction.

It will be noted that in the inal assembly of FIGS. 5 and 6 the half holes 11 will match the single holes 10 and form a unitary bolt hole, and that recesses, as indicated a-t 15, will be covered by the underfolded side edges 13.

In assembly, as shown in FIG. 9, two of these units B are shown assembled with two units C and with a central portion D having a T-head E.

A central plate member 30 may also be provided with an eyelet 31 to attach a damper construction. These units B and C are then assembled together by means of the bolts 32 with the nuts 33 on the in-turned plates 34 and '35, which form part of the face anges 36 or Wall plates 36 and 37.

These -face anges or wall -plates have the outside in- Y turned flange members 38 and 39, inside of which may be mounted the rubber gaskets 40 and 41 to 'be pressed against a Wall or ceiling element indicated diagrammatically at 52 in FIG. 8.

The in-turned anges 38 and 39 will limit the compression of the side ceiling or top and bottom ceiling or wal1 gaskets 40 and 41.

The `bolt openings 42 (see FIG. 7) are designed to receive the bolts 43, Which, by the interior nuts 44 (see FIG. 9) engage the side elements 45 of the internal mounting frame member 45.

The elements 45 may be Welded at 46 to the U-member 47, which will reinforce and hold in position the front dianges 36 and 27. The internal members 45 and 46 are spaced at intervals, as indicated by the bolts 43, with one being positioned for every length of a unit, as indicated in FIG. 7.

The slot in the ;wall may be as wide as the two side elements 45, with the gasket elements 40 and 41 sealing the sides ofthe wall adjacent said slot.

It will be noted that the side plates 34 and 35 are connected by means of the oblique portions `53 to the face anges 36 and 37 so that a recess will be formed below the T-shaped head E, substantially extending across the inside slots.

Pour slots are shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, with the oppositely turned Vvanes 16, so that on each side of the T-head E air will Ibe differently directed, as indicated by the arrows 54 and 55 in FIG. 8.

The units B and C will all be positioned at the bottom of the wall 4formed by the oblique sides 53, well below the T-head E which is ush with the side iianges or face flange members 36 and 37.

In the forming operation, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, in one form of the invention, the operation is started with the base strip A, 1.562 inches, then the central holes 10, 0.140 inch and the half holes 11, 0.070 inch, are punched therein so that there will be a half hole 11 on each edge opposite the central hole 10.

The strip A is continuously advanced in the forming operation to fold the side edges 13 down to form the side anges, as indicated at '12, with the vanes 16 then being die-cut and punched out so that they will be obliquely set at a 45 or 60 angle, as indicated in the middle of FIGS. 1 to 4.

. The part folding of the side edges 13 to form the 90 side lianges 12 will give the strip strength While it is being die-cut at 15 to form the oblique vanes 16.

Normally, the rectangular die-cut portions at are punched two or four at a time, with the cut being made Y on three sides as indicated at 15 and the vanes 16 being As many changes could be made in the above air dif-V fusers and methods ofmaking the same, and many widel different embodiments of this invention could be made Without departure from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

1. An elongated rectangular air diffuser construction for insertion into an elongated rectangular opening in a wallvand to introduce a band of conditioned and ventilating air into an enclosure comprising elongated side frame members having outer parallel face plates spaced from each other to be positioned against the wall on each sideV of the elongated opening and each face plate having inturned transverse side walls integral with said face plates and at right angles to the wall and to the face plates and said transverse Walls being spaced apart Within the elongated rectangular wall opening, a plurality of elongated intermediate plates spaced from each other and between and parallel to the transverse side walls to form a series of closely spaced elongated rectangular air outlet channels between said transverse walls and an outside narrow plate in the plane of face plates and means to connect said walls and intermediate plates together, said narrow plate extending centrally over and obstructing the flow from between the intermediate plates and being mounted on a central intermediate plate and said narrow plates and the adjacent ends of said intermediate plates being spaced from each other so as to form open spaces adjacent the face plates so that release of the air from between the intermediate plates will cause it to iiow into open wells and recesses beyond the intermediate plates and inside ofthe plane of the wall. Y

2. The construction of claim 1, the spaces between said intermediate plates and said transverse walls being provided with a plurality of oblique vanes extending the full width between the transverse plates and intermediate walls and causing the air ilowing therebetween to take an oblique path in flowing into the enclosure.V

3. The construction of claim 1, said transverse walls and intermediate plates being positioned inside of said opening and inside of said face plates so that the outlet ends of said intermediate plates are inside the wall and below said anges.

4. The construction of claim 1, said intermediate `plates having integrally extending from the sides thereof oblique vane members which terminate short of the edge of said intermediate plates, and act as spacers between said intermediate plates.

5. An elongated conditioning or Ventilating air dilusion outlet of the type having an outside ilat flush frame positioned closely adjacent to and parallel to the plane of the wall and ceiling and having two spaced apart elongated rectangular metal plates with a separating recessed well therebetween, the sides of the well as the adjacent parallel edges of the rectangular plates being formed of obliquely integrally inturned strips of the same metal as the plates, the sides extending inwardly and toward each other toward the bottom of the well, a plurality of spaced parallel plates at the bottom ofthe well extending parallelly to Y the rectangular plates but in planesV perpendicular to the plane of the rectangular plates, a plurality of closely spaced parallel obliquely positioned short vanes transverse to the planes of the parallel plates located between and spacing apart said parallel plates with the edges of the vanes terminating short of the edges of the parallel plates, said parallel forming a parallel of narrow elongated ow passageways for outflow of air with the air entering the bottom of the well from said narrow passageways and expanding as it ows through the well toward the plane ofthe rectangular plates said well being inside of the plane of the wall.

6. The diluser of claim 5, there being an even number 0f narrow ow passageways and there being a central 5 plate and the varies on one side of the central plate being all inclined in one direction all parallel to each other and the vanes on the other of the central plate being all inclined in an opposite direction and being all parallel to each other.

7. The diiuser of claim 5, there being an even number of narrow ow passageways and there being a central parallel plate and an elongated transverse rectangular baffle carried by the central plate and positioned substantially inthe plane of the rectangular plate.

8. The diffuser of claim 5, there beingan even number of narrow ow passageways and there being a central References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,067,669 12/1962 ODay 98-40 3,101,690 8/1963 ODay 98-40 ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

10 JOHN F. oCoNNoR, WILLIAM F. ODEA, W.

E. WAYNER, Examiners. 

1. AN ELONGATED RECTANGULAR AIR DIFFUSER CONSTRUCTION FOR INSERTION INTO AN ELONGATED RECTANGULAR OPENING IN A WALL AND TO INTRODUCE A BAND OF CONDITIONED AND VENTILATING AIR INTO AN ENCLOSURE COMPRISING ELONGATED SIDE FRAME MEMBERS HAVING OUTER PARALLEL FACE PLATES SPACED FROM EACH OTHER TO BE POSITIONED AGAINST THE WALL ON EACH SIDE OF THE ELONGATED OPENING AND EACH FACE PLATE HAVING INTURNED TRANSVERSE SIDE WALLS INTEGRAL WITH SAID FACE PLATES AND AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE WALL AND TO THE FACE PLATES AND SAID TRANSVERSE WALLS BEING SPACED APART WITHIN THE ELONGATED RECTANGULAR WALL OPENING, A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED INTERMEDIATE PLATES SPACED FROM EACH OTHER AND BETWEEN AND PARALLEL TO THE TRANSVERSE SIDE WALLS TO FORM A SERIES OF CLOSELY SPACED ELONGATED RECTANGULAR AIR OUTLET CHANNELS 